Highlights from August's SWS

(an early photo of the Derby)

Thank you to all who came out to the Derby. There was such a large turn-out, at first the restaurant had nowhere to put all of us. That was quickly solved for those that didn't leave because of the initial crowds. Thus, a special thank you also goes out to the staff of the Derby for not only accommodating our large numbers, but for also walking around and sharing their personal encounters with the old tavern's ghosts.

Some of the stories told that night included...

A woman (working late) saw a man walking down the hall to the bar on one of her surveillance TV monitors. Knowing that she was alone, and that the restaurant was locked, she called the police. After a thorough search of the empty restaurant, they consulted the video tape. The "man" is seen walking down the hall, and into the bar, where he sits on the last stool at the end of the bar (the stool even swiveled as he sat), and then he disappears into thin air. Apparently, that stool was where George Woolf sat (and still sits?) when he used to visit the restaurant.

A man painting the walls of the bar (after hours) kept hearing footsteps and knocking sounds in other parts of the restaurant. Knowing that he should be the only one there, he would investigate, but obviously never found anyone else in the locked restaurant. The sounds and searches went on all night. The next day, when talking to the bartenders, they told him of the ghost stories. They purposefully did not mentioned any of this the night before, because they wanted to see if he would have his own encounter. From that night on, when the painter worked in the restaurant, he would shout out a greeting to George Woolf, with an assurance that he was beautifying the restaurant. He never had another problem with the ghost.

A waiter told a story that one night (after closing time), he went around blowing out the candles on the tables. He went clockwise around the perimeter of the large dining room, blowing out each candle. However when he circled back to his first candle, the flame was still there. He then looked around the room, and each candle had re-lit itself.

The current owner of the Derby even confided to our group that he doesn't like to be alone in the restaurant. Thus, he always makes another employee close, and lock up, the restaurant after he leaves.

(to read more ghost stories from the Derby...)